Physical maps of Hawaiʻi dating back to the 1800s are crucial in understanding land ownership, building permitting, and family ancestry.
Access to this information will soon be easier, more abundant — and online.
The Land Survey Division at the state Department of Accounting and General Services is pushing for improved public access to the maps. The effort has been in the works for over 20 years, and the division has already made about 90,000 maps available on its website.
But now, the department will be transferring the maps to a new, free online site. The searchable database will have links to additional information about areas within each map.
Meyer Cummins, the division’s licensed professional land surveyor, noted that maps can carry a heavy significance for those looking for more information on their history and ancestry.
“In Hawaiʻi, culture and tradition and societal understandings are all tied to land. History and land go together,” Cummins said.
“So for people trying to do research about their kūpuna, trying to figure out where they are from, it helps to have some idea of what their connection to that land looks like.”
Meyer noted that although the majority of this information is already available on their site for free, it can be too complicated to navigate, leaving many to hire professionals to do the work for them.
The new site will essentially be an easily accessible database with hyperlinks to additional information on specific areas, monuments, or lands within the maps. Meyer emphasized that the division wants the process to be easier and faster for users while still offering an abundance of information.
“They can zoom in, scan around, and we'll have satellite imagery backing a lot of this line work. They'll say, 'Hey, I recognize that beach,' or, 'I know where that road is,' and they'll be able to find the property they're looking at, click on it, and any information that our office has pertinent to that property, they'll be able to download for free,” Meyer said.
Not all maps will be on the site. Many are too large to scan, meaning they can only be physically accessed. Some are even too fragile to unroll, which leaves their information untouched.
Cummins hopes for technology that will eventually scan maps without having to unroll them. But for now, he says, creating easier access to the maps that are available is a good start.
